Al-Attiyah leader but with problems

The Qatari driver of Toyota crossed the finish line with the best time of the day, followed by the trio of Spaniards Pons (Ford), Rome (Toyota) and Sainz (Peugeot)

Inaugural stage with 39 km of Special and 454 km of link that led to the drivers of Asunción to Resisténcia (Paraguay).

Fast track and without any navigation, but that gave the first scare for one of the favorites. The twice champion of the Dakar, Nasser Al-Attiyah, suffered a fault to cross the finish line. The Toyota would suffer a small fire that obliged him to be towed by his team-mate, Giniel De Villiers.

On the other hand, the Spanish riders have begun with good pace occupying three positions behind Al-Attiyah. Pons arrived at 24 seconds, Roma 29 seconds and Sainz to 33 seconds.

Giniel De Villiers (Toyota) came in 5th position followed by Sebástien Loeb (Peugeot) on his second Rally Dakar. At the seventh position found the first Mini, Al Rajhi followed by Cyril Despres (Peugeot), Mikko Hirvonen (Mini) and Erik Van Loon (Toyota) completing the Top 10.

Tomorrow is the second stage which will lead to the driver of rResisténcia to San Miguel de Tucumán with a special stage of 275 km.